The Definition of Love
by AuricEspeon
Summary: Love- the Weasley family is full of it; Tom Riddle would have turned out better had he gotten it; Harry experienced it as a Hogwarts student. But what does 'love' truly mean? Love captured in disconnected oneshots.
1. Brothers in All but Blood

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had always been his idol.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, destroyed You-Know-Who- he was practically world-famous! And Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was amazing, because Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, did that as a baby!

Sometimes he would just sit outside, stare at the sky, and dream that _he_ was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and that _he _was the world-famous one. And then he would remember Ginny, and how she was in love with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and then he would shiver in disgust, and stand up and go back inside.

When Fred and George told him about Hogwarts, he was even more excited to go- learn magic, watch Quidditch, and even better he would show up all of his older brothers! And he would go back outside and think about how Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, would be in _his_ year, and how they would become best friends; the inseparable best friends, the Weasley-Potter pair of Gryffindor!

There was always a tiny, tiny voice in the back of his mind that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, wouldn't want to be his friend, or Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, wouldn't be a Gryffindor, or even worse _he_ wouldn't be a Gryffindor. But he always squashed it flat.

Sometimes he thought he dreamed about it; the Voice that took the form of a spider, crawling all over him, whispering in his ear over and over again (_"you'll go to Slytherin", "he won't be friends with you", "you're such a failure"_) his worst fears. It was part of the reason that he hated spiders so much.

Finally he turned eleven, and finally he received his Hogwarts letter, and finally he went off to King's Cross Station. A small, skinny boy with big round glasses was standing awkwardly around, and the boy tapped Mum on the shoulder hesitantly.

The boy muttered something so quietly to Mum that he couldn't hear, but the end Mum's motherly tones were loud enough for him to guess that the boy was a muggle-born.

"Ron's new, too," Mum said, pulling him over. He nodded shyly at the boy, glancing away at the wall. Mum said something else, but he wasn't listening, and the boy disappeared though the platform entrance, as he followed.

Fred and George had gone to help the boy with his trunk, and as the twins came back, the boy went into a compartment. The boy peeked out of a window at the family, but he noticed.

Fred and George said something about the boy, but all he caught was "Harry Potter". He perked up, even as Ginny begged to see Harry Potter.

He dragged his trunk onto the train as soon as Mum let him and his brothers go, and he tried to find a compartment as soon as possible so he could see who was Harry Potter, but it seemed like every one was full.

"Could I sit here?" he asked as he reached the last compartment. In it was the boy from before. "Everywhere else is full," he added sheepishly.

The boy let him in, and he shoved his shabby trunk into the racks above the seats. He introduced himself, and the boy replied.

The realization he was in the same compartment as _Harry Potter_ made his heart skip a beat. He was in the same compartment as his idol. He had no idea they would become brothers in everything but blood.

* * *

**Word Count: 603**

**Thanks for reading my new story! Although it's not so much a story as a drabble collection... I want to start a new story idea, but I don't have any that I can use for fanfiction and actually continue. Thus, my collection!**

**Personally I don't really like Ron, but that's what reading a bunch of Ron-bashing stories does to you. I see him portrayed as a dumbass (excuse my language) too much but when the author makes him a nice, _smart_ character, I love him to bits. :)**

**Please review!**


	2. The Tale of Two Souls

_Hate_.

Tom Riddle. He hated the name. It was too plain; unsuitable for someone like him. _He_ was a genius, _he_ was strong. Why should he be the one with such a plain name?

_He lived on it_.

The only thing he liked about his name was his second name- _Marvolo_. It was unique and nobody else had it. So whenever the caretakers made him introduce himself to some stupid new orphan at the orphanage, he always emphasized it. "Tom _Marvolo_ Riddle. Nice to meet you."

_It was the only thing he knew._

* * *

_Love_.

Harry Potter. He loved his name- Potter, for the family he never knew. Harry, the name Sirius told him Lily had picked out. Harry Potter, the son of Lily and James.

_He lived on it__._

What he liked best about his name was his second name- _James_. It reminded him of his father. James Potter, he liked saying. James Potter, my dad. Whenever he met one of his parents' old school friends or professors or their children, he'd always say it with emphasis. "I'm Harry _James_ Potter."

_It was what made his life happy_.

* * *

Once upon a time, there was Tom Riddle, a handsome toddler that grew bitter without any love or care shown to him at the lonely orphanage, and Harry Potter, a beautiful baby whose talent was trampled at a young age.

Tom Riddle became the prodigious Head Boy of Hogwarts. He was the first to split his soul more than once. He was the most powerful Dark Lord that had ever been heard of in Europe, and his fall from grace went all the way down to Hell.

Harry Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived. He was the first to survive the Killing Curse. He was the youngest person in European history to have brought down a Dark Lord. He rose like a phoenix from the ashes he was left in to spreading his fiery wings as he influenced people all over the United Kingdom.

There was only a happy ending for one.

* * *

_OMAKE_

"What would have been if they switched places?" Albus Dumbledore wondered aloud yet again. "Harry has managed to turn out well though his living conditions had been less than loving, though Tom's had always been colder and even more restricting in magic."

"Perhaps they would have both become Dark Lords," Merlin laughed at Albus. The two got along quite well, considering how far apart their lives had been, though they did look quite similar. "After all Tom was quite disagreeable in the beginning. I don't think he and the Dursleys would have meshed."

"It is quite possible," Rowena Ravenclaw jumped in. She and Merlin were quite close, both having brilliant minds. "Though if they had been switched through magic, such as a more advanced Time-turner, I would suppose with Lily and James' personalities he would have managed through the orphanage. If he had found out about the swap, he might even have tried to rescue Tom."

"I doubt," Salazar Slytherin sneered, "that Harry Potter would still have been in in Godric's House. After all, growing up in such living conditions would certainly twist his brain to become smarter. After all he would need the brains to survive."

"Don't be rude, Salazar!" Helga Hufflepuff admonished. "With the Potter genes especially I think that he would still do well with Godric."

The banter continued between the three founders, Albus, and Merlin, and eventually they stopped, laughing.

Down on Earth, the Sorting Hat sneezed.

"Damn me!" it cursed. "If only I hadn't decided to seal my soul in this stupid hat. I would be able to go into the afterlife and speak with my old friends! Helga, Rowena, Salazar! I hope you aren't having fun without me!" Inside the Hat's mind, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Salazar whispered, "I told you this was a stupid idea."

* * *

**Word count: 646**

**If you don't already know, 'Omake' is Japanese for extra. It's used in anime as a comedic little oneshot. :)**

**I felt like making a comparison between Tom and Harry. They're really similar, as JKR wrote in the books, with the way their lives went, but the way they became was what really changed things. I think that if they had grown up in each others' situations (like exactly the same as the other's) then Harry would become just a little more hating and he would have gotten into Slytherin and more politics stuff. Tom would probably be bitter up until he found out his special-ness, but he would still go to Slytherin and become an evil cruel bastard.**

**The last bit is just that bit of musing that I made a little more humorous with the last bit about Godric stuck in his Sorting Hat.**


	3. The Love of a Spouse

_"I love you, Ginny."_

She was twenty years old when he first said it.

_"Listen, I know we haven't been dating very long.."_

She knew she liked him _a lot_ but being in love was something very, very different.

_"...but you're the only one I've ever had this feeling towards."_

He was the first _and only_ one she had ever liked. Ever.

_"I mean, I get if you can't say it back-"_

She kissed him.

* * *

**Word count: 79**

**This is so short... -_-' I need more ideas.**

**Well, romantic love! I don't really care who you want to think it is, but I wrote it with Harry in mind. :)**

**Please review!**


	4. In its Purest Form

"Will you marry me?"

At first it was just a joke- Sirius had dared him to ask the fiery redhead out on a date. At that time, James didn't like her at all. She hung out with Snivellus! Snivellus, the ugly, slimy, Slytherin. James had stretched the dare to make it even funnier.

The way she rejected him got him hooked.

"I wouldn't touch you with a fifty-meter long pole!"

The second time he asked her out, he was sure she would agree- she had heard Sirius daring him to ask her, and no girl wanted to be dated for a dare. This time, though, he was serious.

"Of course not! Over my dead body!" she shouted, sending him a Color-Changing charm that turned him green. Remus sighed, waving a wand over him and changing him back to normal.

"Moony?" he asked dreamily. "I think I'm in love with her."

The next time was only two weeks later; the Marauders pulled a massive prank on Hogwarts, turning the stairs into a bouncy material and planting mattresses all over the school. Painted on one wall James had written:

LILY I LOVE YOU

PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME

Red-faced and spitting with rage, the auburn-haired girl had shouted at him until she was hoarse, sending curses until he was black and blue- literally- with his legs bound together and him hanging upside down.

Suddenly Lily Evans became an extremely desirable young woman.

He was practically asking her out every day, excluding the holidays, and she would reject him. It was only in seventh year that his blessing came.

"Head Boy?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "How did you manage that, Prongs? You're not even a prefect!"

"I'm just talented," he preened, running his hand through his hair and smirking.

The compartment door opened. "Excuse me, is Remus here-?" a soprano tone voiced, and he turned simultaneously with his best friend to look at the speaker. Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared at him- no, at his Head Boy badge. "Potter? _You're_ Head Boy?" She looked sickened at the thought.

"You'll be honored with my presence much more, now, Evans, aren't you glad?" he said arrogantly. She glared at him, before her looked softened to a appreciative glance. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

"Yes, I get to spend time with _you_, the most arrogant person to ever exist," she snarled, her face changing in a split second, and she turned on her heel, her Mary-Janes clacking as she made her way down the train corridor.

He finally wormed into her heart near the end of seventh year, and three months after graduation he proposed. His wedding day was the best of his life, and as he looked into bright green eyes, he smiled broadly.

"I do."

* * *

**Word Count: 480**

**Lily and James have one of the cutest relationships I've ever heard of... =3= I really don't like hearing them with someone else. I feel like they were just made for each other. ^-^**

**I just realized I haven't done a disclaimer... Well, it's obvious anyways, but... I don't own Harry Potter or any characters used in it.**


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